4 Fights We Need to See After UFC Fight Night: Bonfim vs. Brown

The UFC was back in Las Vegas on Saturday night with another low-profile but memorable card.

In the main event, rising welterweight contender Gabriel Bonfim picked up a second-round knockout win over Randy Brown to affirm his place in the division's top 15. It remains to be seen how far the Brazilian can go, but he is on one of the best streaks at 170 pounds right now.

Beyond the main event, the card was thin on meaningful contender fights. However, a number of rising names scored impressive finishes, which should set them up for big opportunities next time out.

Here are the four fights we'd like to see made when the dust has settled.

Gabriel Bonfim vs. Geoff Neal

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Gabriel Bonfim has had some bad luck in his last couple of fights. First, he picked up a dubious decision win over former title challenger Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson. Then, on Saturday, he knocked out Randy Brown—only for fans to immediately decry an early stoppage.

Nonetheless, the win over Brown brought Bonfim to 19-1 overall. Regardless of the controversies surrounding his last two contests, there's little question he's one of the best welterweights in the sport right now.

From here, we'd like to see Bonfim matched up with Geoff Neal.

Some might consider Neal too small a step up for Bonfim at this point, but given the circumstances of the Brazilian's last two victories, it makes sense.

Neal is still recovering from a brutal knockout loss to Carlos Prates, but when he's recovered, this is the fight to make. Just get the bonus checks ready ahead of time, as both men are proven finishers with serious stopping power.

Chris Padilla vs. Quillan Salkilld

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Gabriel Bonfim's brother, Ismael, was also in action on Saturday, but his fight didn't go nearly as well.

Bonfim, a lightweight, returned to the Octagon against fellow prospect Chris Padilla. He got off to a strong start, but was ultimately stopped in the third round.

It was one of the biggest wins of Padilla's career to date—maybe the biggest outright—and it brought him to 4-0 in the UFC, with three stoppages. With so much success behind him, he's due for another big opportunity.

We'd like to see him matched up with Quillan Salkilld.

The Australian last fought at UFC 321 in late October, when he scored a devastating knockout win over Nasrat Haqparast. That win brought his UFC record to 3-0, with two finishes.

All that to say, he's on a similar trajectory to Padilla, and having fought very recently, on a similar fight schedule. Match them up on a Fight Night main card in early 2026.

Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Christian Leroy Duncan has quickly become one of the most exciting new prospects in the middleweight division.

The 30-year-old Brit was back in action on Saturday and produced one of the best performances of the night, knocking out Marco Tulio with a spinning back-fist and follow-up punches. It was his second bonus-winning finish in a row, and his third straight win.

From here, it's tempting to suggest a matchup between CLD and fellow striking specialist Shara "Bullet" Magomedov. However, we're still holding out hope for a fan friendly fight between Magomedov and Paulo Costa, so let's match Duncan up with Michał Oleksiejczuk instead.

The Pole is not as big of a name as Magomedov, but he's far more experienced than the Russian, and has won his last two fights—both by stoppage.

He and Duncan are in similar positions in the middleweight division right now—a few wins outside the rankings—so this seems like the fight to make. It would make a great addition to any upcoming card in Europe.

Josh Hokit vs. Valter Walker

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Saturday's undercard featured the UFC debut of promising Contender Series product Josh Hokit. The heavyweight's debut couldn't have gone much better. Despite being a wrestler, he knocked opponent Max Gimenis out cold in less than a minute.

As impressive as the win was, people wouldn't be talking about Hokit nearly as much were it not for his memorable post-fight interview with commentator Paul Felder. When given the opportunity to speak, he unleashed a WWE-inspired promo, straight out of the Chael Sonnen playbook.

He concluded his speech with a callout of Brazil's Valter Walker.

Walker is one of the most talked-about fighters in the heavyweight division right now, having won four straight fights by heel hook.

With so much success behind him, he could be aiming a bit higher than Hokit in his next fight. However, he capped off his last win by calling out Hamdy Abdelwahab, a low-level heavyweight who has since been released by the UFC despite winning his last fight. In other words, Walker is clearly not aiming for ranked opponents just yet, and is therefore likely to welcome a fight with Hokit.

So let's give "The Incredible Hok" what he wants, and see if he can keep his legs out of Walker's grasp.